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Wake up and write! Now you can subscribe to the Literary Kitchen for weekly writing prompts. You’ll get a new writing assignment emailed to you every Saturday morning. An easy and affordable way to keep your writing practice fresh. $5 a month. Cancel any time.

Now you can buy all the things I made this year in one place. My house boys will be making runs to the post office every day starting November 30th so you’ll get things in time for whatever holiday makes you happy & not stressed.

Brand new! The Art Life Coloring Book by Ariel Gore

It’s here! I made this 28-page coloring book while I was on book tour for We Were Witches. Drawing the images made me feel less anxious about talking to people I didn’t know. Coloring the images in has the same effect, so I think you’ll like it. 5″ x 7″ sweet size for stockings!

$7 includes U.S. Shipping

New! We Were Witches: A Novel by Ariel Gore from The Feminist Press

Michelle Tea calls We Were Witches “A new feminist classic penned by one of the culture’s strongest authors at her most experimental and personal.”

$18 includes U.S. Shipping.

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New! Notes & Spells Scout Book

Keep your We Were WitchesNotes & Spells book in your pocket at all times! It’s mostly blank, and includes just enough magical instruction & inspiration to keep you going. Sweet 3 1/2″ x 5″ size makes it the perfect stocking stuffer. Just saying
$5 includes U.S. shipping
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New! Hybridity: For Beachcombers Who are Tired of Performing Normal

This magical, limited edition zine by Ariel Gore has bonus “Surrealism for Beginners” writing assignments in the back.
Just a few left!
$4 includes U.S. shipping.
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The End of Eve: A Memoir by Ariel Gore from Hawthorne Books

Winner of a New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, winner of a Rainbow Award, finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, named one of the best memoirs of the year by Library Journal . . .
Tom Spanbauer says, “The way Ariel puts human emotion on the page is an act of poetry damn close to sublime.”
$16 includes U.S. shipping.
***Canada! We love you. And we need a little postage support. Please add a $2 Canadian postage booster for all orders shipping to Canada.
(If you need overseas shipping, please email arielfiona at gmail dot com.)

Wake up and write! Now you can subscribe to the Literary Kitchen for weekly writing prompts from Ariel Gore. You’ll get a new writing assignment / writing prompt emailed to you every Saturday morning. Easy and affordable way to keep your writing practice fresh. $5 a month. Cancel any time.

The personal essay is one of the most enduring and adaptable literary forms, allowing for experimentation and a dissolution of the traditional boundaries between memoir and journalism. Over the 12-day intensive we’ll write every day, survey the form, complete five new essays, explore the market, and polish at least one personal essay for publication. Workshop size is limited, so please sign up early.
Full tuition is $185 – class full – waitlist – arielfiona at gmail

You won’t have time for holiday stress & consumerist brain-suck. You’ll be writing. The Literary Kitchen’s most popular class — sign up early! — is the Winter Break Intensive taught by Ariel Gore. You’ll get 12 assignment in 14 days December 18th to January 1st. Replace the insanity of the holidays with pure creativity. You’ll generate lots of new material quickly & be ready for an amazingly productive new year.

WINTER MANUSCRIPT WORKSHOP\

Online Class Taught by Ariel Gore

January 5th – March 31st

– class full – waitlist only – arielfiona at gmail

Workshop size is limited. Please sign up early.

Spend the first months of the new year finishing your book . . . or start a new one. In this 12-week workshop, you’ll generate new material for your book, polish what you’ve already got with weekly and monthly feedback, learn traditional and nontraditional plot structure, experiment wildly, and make your book reality.

The cost of the 12-week workshop is $580

A $145 deposit saves your spot.

Class full – waitlist only – arielfiona at gmail
Here are two of the latest books to come out of the summer manuscript workshop:“Several years ago I had a vague idea for a book and on a whim I signed up for Ariel Gore’s manuscript workshop just to see what would happen. Signing up for that workshop was one of the best writing decisions I have ever made. Ariel’s incredibly supportive feedback and constructive critiques, as well as her challenging writing exercises, were instrumental in taking my book from a vague idea to a finished product. I highly recommend Ariel Gore’s workshops to anyone who has an idea that is begging to live on the page.”—Nina Packebush, author of Girls Like Me(Bink Books, 2017)

“Ariel Gore’s manuscript workshop was the best way to spend a summer—writing, re-visioning, and gaining ever-increasing clarity. We had prompts and activities that kept us focused on getting the bulk of our manuscripts completed in twelve weeks. She’s got the book-writing experience, invaluable insight and artistic commitment to help you organize and write the book only you can write. “

We’ll meet two hours on Friday evening, three hours on Saturday, and three hours on Sunday to generate new work, experiment with merged genres, magical realism, and disruptive structure. We’ll take writing we’ve already drafted or new writing through thought-provoking revision stations, and break ourselves out of any worn-out limits.

On Sunday, we’ll also share experiences and map new paths to making our book/zine/chapbook/essay dreams into published realities. We’ll explore the ins and outs of journal submissions & experiences creating anthologies & other dream book projects. We’ll demystify the proposal & submissions processes, and make a plan to materialize the project(s) you’ve been working on.

*Ariel Gore is a LAMBDA Award-winning editor and the author of ten books of fiction and nonfiction. Her latest novel, We Were Witches, is out now from The Feminist Press. The End of Eve won a New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, a Rainbow Award, and was named one of the 10 best memoirs of the year by Library Journal. Her stories and essays have appeared in Psychology Today, Salon, Ms., Utne, The Sun, The San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere.

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Ariel Gore is a fabulous workshop facilitator; I’ve been taking classes from her since 2001. In each of the workshops, she brings together a diverse group of writers with varying degrees of competency; and, whether the writer is seasoned or a beginner, she understands exactly where each person is coming from and she meets them there. Not only did I find my unique voice, I learned how to be a thoughtful listener and how to provide insightful critique. I would recommend her workshops to anyone interested in memoir and the art of a good story.

—Lani Jo Leigh

Ariel’s workshops jump-started my psyche. I’m back into looking at the world as a writer instead of as a would-be writer. I have her to thank for that. Workshops are almost at your own pace. Always encouraging. She has a knack for assembling a great group of writers together every time.

—Margaret Elysia Garcia, author of Mary of the Chance Encounters

Ariel Gore’s writing workshop pushed me past the borders of my creativity and into an exciting unknown place of writing within myself. If you’ve ever put to pen to paper and wondered what you were really capable of Ariel’s workshop will take you there.

—Gabby Rivera, author of Juliet Takes a Breath

I thoroughly enjoy Ariel’s workshops. Writers from a variety of backgrounds gather together, bringing in work with all kinds of themes, and as each piece is workshopped, Ariel’s ear for the crucial aspects of great storytelling kicks right in. Her feedback is thoughtful, insightful, precise, and multilayered.

—Bonnie Ditlevsen

When I started writing with Ariel, I had zero idea how to write for audience. In work shopping with her, I have found my voice and with practice have found different ways to formulate story. I have learned how to incorporate dialogue and am so much more confident with my work. I recommend this workshop to all aspiring, practicing, and practiced writers.

Sometimes we get requests for scholarships for Ariel Gore’s online and in-person writing workshops. Use this button if you’d like to donate to the scholarship fund! Feel free to make a note if you want your donation to support a writer in a particular circumstance or community, or go toward a specific class, and note if you’d like your donation to be anonymous.

You won’t have time for holiday stress & consumerist brain-suck. You’ll be writing. The Literary Kitchen’s most popular class — sign up early! — is the Winter Break Intensive taught by Ariel Gore. You’ll get 12 assignment in 14 days December 18th to January 1st. Replace the insanity of the holidays with pure creativity. You’ll generate lots of new material quickly & be ready for an amazingly productive new year.

The intensive costs $185. You can pay right here with Paypal or email arielfiona@gmail.com if you prefer to send a check.

It’s a fairly universal experience to disagree with family members sometimes. But what if those disagreements are more like a epic gulfs of bafflement and horror? What if your family members are conservatives? What if they’re Republicans? What then?

Write the conservative members of your family into immortality by bringing your pen and paper to the Thanksgiving table. We’ll write scenes that have the immediacy of fiction steeped in the emotional depths of lived experience.

If you’ve dreamed of leaving a story for posterity to tell your whole truth long after you’re gone or if you’ve dreamed of publishing this story for the world, this class is for you. Maybe you feel compelled to write and see what comes of it—consider the possibilities later. Maybe your childhood home remains within your mind as a bright place or a painful place or a beautiful, long gone now place, but the conservativism or religious authoritarianism remains in your metaphors. Write it all. Maybe even find some peace with it.

Literary Memoir offers the opportunity for growth and expression that other types of writing don’t. It’s not just that we’re writing our life’s memories, it’s that we’re writing our resistance through artistic expression. It’s that we’re writing ourselves resilient. So, in this class we’ll talk about what makes memoir literary.

A new session of Lit Star Training – the 8-week-plus writing course taught by Ariel Gore – starts September 23rd. Writers in Lit Star Training spend at least a few hours each week on their writing and online critiques. You can log in any time of the day or night. Writers in the group are new and seasoned, wanting to work on memoir or fiction. The class works as well for those writing to weekly assignments and for people who are beginning or working on longer projects.

The class is $295. A $95 deposit saves your spot.

You can pay the deposit right here:

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IOWA CITY, IOWA: FUCK SHAME

September 27, 6 – 9 pm

Fuck Shame Writing Workshop with Ariel Gore & Shell Feijo

Iowa City

Ariel Gore will be reading at Prarie Lights Books in Iowa City the night before–come to town early . . .

Come get cozy, write, share, and relax in a safe space with award winning author Ariel Gore, in town for her We Were Witches Book Tour, and Shell Feijo, local writer, teacher, and speaker.

We will gather in a home on the Eastside of Iowa City from 6-9 p.m. September 27th, the night after Ariel reads at Prairie Lights Books – make it a two night retreat!

THE WITCHFEST WRITING RETREAT – WORKSHOP FULL, EMAIL arielfiona@gmail.com to find out about public elements of the retreat!

October 5-9, 2017

Affordable Sliding Scale

Join Us For . . .

• Narrative Resistance Writing Workshops withAriel Gore: We’ll formally meet for two 2-hour workshops where we’ll generate new work, experiment with genre and structure, take writing we’ve already drafted or new writing through thought-provoking revision stations, and break ourselves out of any worn-out limits. Bring something you’ve been working on or just show up with your computer–or pen and paper.

• Chef-prepared traditional New Mexican family dinner (Yes, there will be green chile apple pie.)

• Word & Image with Rebecca Fish Ewan Push the boundaries of form and genre with the founder of Plankton Press “where small is big enough” & author of the forthcoming graphic memoir By The Forces of Gravity.

Ojo Caliente (one more hour north of Santa Fe—awesome excursion if you’re staying an extra day or two!)

Santa Fe, New Mexico is one hour northeast of Albuquerque and is served by the Albuquerque airport.

If you’re flying into Albuquerque, we recommend making a reservation on the Sandia Shuttle, renting a car, arranging with other participants to share a rental car, or catching the RailRunner train from Albuquerque to Santa Fe (train runs on a limited commuter schedule.)

We recommend planning to arrive in New Mexico by Thursday evening. Retreat activities begin on Friday and go through Monday morning.

Recommended lodging for those with a car—let’s take over this place. The housekeeper/handylady is a badass local artist: Suitable Digs

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BALTIMORE

Mismatched Socks: The Secrets to Writing and Publishing Whatever You Want

THE BALTIMORE WRITING & PUBLISHING WORKSHOP

With Ariel Gore & China Martens

October 20 – 22, 2017

Friday evening & Saturday afternoon:

Experimental Narrative Workshops led by Ariel Gore

We’ll meet two hours on Friday evening & three hours on Saturday to generate new work, experiment with merged genres and disruptive structure, take writing we’ve already drafted or new writing through thought-provoking revision stations, and break ourselves out of any worn-out limits. Bring something you’ve been working on or just show up with your computer–or pen and paper.

Sunday morning: Dream Publishing Workshop led by China Martens

On Sunday, we’ll meet for our final three hours to map out the steps to making your book/zine/chapbook/essay dream a published reality. We’ll explore the ins and outs of creating and publishing anthologies & other dream book projects. We’ll approach radical editing as an act of love, build our bios, demystify the book proposal & call for submissions processes, and make a plan to materialize the project you’ve been thinking of.

Ariel Gore is the author of ten books including We Were Witches, a novel / surrealist memoir. Ariel will read from this new work at Atomic Books—just a block from where our workshop will be held on Falls Rd.–on Saturday night.

The personal essay is one of the most enduring and adaptable literary forms, allowing for experimentation and a dissolution of the traditional boundaries between memoir and journalism. Over the 12-day intensive we’ll write every day, survey the form, complete five new essays, explore the market, and polish at least one personal essay for publication.Workshop size is limited, so please sign up early.
Full tuition is $185

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Ariel Gore is a LAMBDA Award-winning editor and the author of eight books of fiction and nonfiction. Her most recent title, The End of Eve, won a New Mexico-Arizona Book Award, a Rainbow Award, and was named one of the 10 best memoirs of the year by Library Journal. Her stories and essays have appeared in Psychology Today, Salon, Ms., Utne, The Sun, The San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere.

Stones are just right for the altar because needing to write is as hard as carrying ten pounds of stones on your bike.

If I was to make an altar to my writing, I would pull the half-rotted wooden box out of the compost pile. The one I carried around with me from Ohio to Boston to Oregon. The one that was my bedside table for so many years. The one I tried to grow carrots in two years ago, cause I just didn’t seem to be able to dig deep enough and loosen my dirt enough, and the carrots would be stunted on the untilled ground. So I filled up my wooden box bedside table with muck from my compost pile and mixed in seeds for different color carrots. I hadn’t realized that my compost had so many weed seeds in it and so all summer I was picking the fennel and morning glory starts out of it. And the purple and orange and red carrots didn’t grow well and only the white ones came up and by the time I picked all the fennel out, it was the heat of the summer and I forgot to water it enough. I didn’t get one descent carrot out of the whole affair. And maybe, for that reason, it’s a suitable base for my prayers. I’d power wash the dirt off this wooden box, drag it in the house and set it up next to my computer in my office.

Next I would lay (or is that lie?) my white silk scarf over the top of it—the one Dalai Lama gave me and 10,000 other Portlanders when he spoke at the MODA center in 2013. The one I used on my little altar at my garden wedding four months ago to Peggy who doesn’t understand why I don’t write more poetry.

On top of the silk I would put my favorite Nova Scotia stone. A beauty of a rock—flat, oval, sea tumbled grays with a three white stripes around its length. It’s the rock I collected in 1979 on my bike camping trip around Nova Scotia with my gentle boyfriend, Ben. Soon after we crested the ridiculous hills of the Cabot Trail and saw the solitary moose that was our reward and came down the hill to a beach of fantastic rounded rocks of every color and pattern, and even though I already had 60 pounds of gear—food, a stove, tent, sleeping bag, clothes, journal, flashlight, sleeping pad, water—in my orange American Youth Hostel panniers, I could not resist adding another ten pounds of stones to carry half way back around the island, and I treasure them all still over 40 years and five houses later, adorning the shelf in my bathroom. Stones are just right for the altar because needing to write is as hard as carrying ten pounds of stones on your bike.

I’d put my first, smallest and most Day-Glo journal, on my altar: “April 24 1969 help a blind lady in grocery store to get her groceries for her. One thing I gave her is the wrong size I felt nervous” “April 24 1969 I pick up about 80 pieces of newspaper about 10 papers felt like I was helping N.Y” “lost my bookbag. I got real worried because it was a mean persons book in it. I went up to the science room to work on my project (copper coating a key or making metal molicquels move.)”

I would put my tiny blue Swiss Army knife with a customized “KIRSCHENBAUM” engraved on one side on His Holiness’ silk in honor of Karen Karbo’s sentient declaration that “Writing is like having a knife fight with yourself in a telephone booth.”

My mom says, “My father was a failed writer. He didn’t promote himself. He wrote all the time but he was too nice. He was my mother more than he was my father.” I need something of his on my writing altar. I have his microscopically embroidered bib with a tiny swan made of 1,000 miniscule stitches. But he wasn’t a writer yet when he wore it for protection from rice cereal. So I will place on my altar one of the few manuscripts of his that has survived the tests of time. It is titled, “SALVAGE ROM THE SEA.” There are several small handwritten corrections, because it is just too much work to retype the whole thing. Eight pages remain, all burned on the upper right hand corner and along the right side, from the fire that burned down his house.

Onto the alter I would drop a handful of Trader Joe’s coffee candies to honor my 33 year old self, keeping awake to study for my MFA while I was raising two kids with an unfaithful sex addict massage therapist husband. One candy = ½ hour longer awake.

I need a candle on my altar. I have a half-used-up one I made back in my beekeeping days, before colony collapse discouraged me. My kids poured our wax into a galvanized star-shaped column around a cotton wick held in place with putty. Now twenty years later the candle’s center is burned halfway down and the sharp edges of the star stand tall. It still smells like the smoking burlap from my smoker, and the sweet brown smell of thousands of bees working tirelessly, masticating the clear wax with yellow pollen from our sunflowers, our marigolds, our dahlias.

Lastly I will leave my post-it-note list of words, correctly spelled, that I can’t for the life of me spell: separately—opening—beginning—separation—across—each other —a little— maintenance.

What you will not find on my writing altar: any admonitions in any form to write 250 words a day, to write from 6 am to 7 a.m., to write lousy first drafts, to write every day, to write what I know, to write what I don’t know, to show and not tell, to tell and not show, to show and tell, to “build pockets of stillness into my life,” to write an outline, to “above all, just write!”

• Narrative Resistance Writing Workshops withAriel Gore: We’ll formally meet for two 2-hour workshops where we’ll generate new work, experiment with genre and structure, take writing we’ve already drafted or new writing through thought-provoking revision stations, and break ourselves out of any worn-out limits. Bring something you’ve been working on or just show up with your computer–or pen and paper.

• Chef-prepared traditional New Mexican family dinner (Yes, there will be green chile apple pie.)

• Word & Image with Rebecca Fish Ewan Push the boundaries of form and genre with the founder of Plankton Press “where small is big enough” & author of the forthcoming graphic memoir By The Forces of Gravity.

Ojo Caliente (one more hour north of Santa Fe—awesome excursion if you’re staying an extra day or two!)

Santa Fe, New Mexico is one hour northeast of Albuquerque and is served by the Albuquerque airport.

If you’re flying into Albuquerque, we recommend making a reservation on the Sandia Shuttle, renting a car, arranging with other participants to share a rental car, or catching the RailRunner train from Albuquerque to Santa Fe (train runs on a limited commuter schedule.)

We recommend planning to arrive in New Mexico by Thursday evening. Retreat activities begin on Friday and go through Monday morning.

Recommended lodging for those with a car—let’s take over this place. The housekeeper/handylady is a badass local artist: Suitable Digs